The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is an authorized board to change or update the rules of a football match. At the IFAB annual meeting in Aberdeen last Saturday, they produced several new decisions. IFAB was formed by four British states plus FIFA representatives who then launched several new rules related to hands-ball, players go out at the turn, posse, goal kick, drop ball when the ball hit the referee, and rebounded when a penalty.
This new rule will be implemented worldwide on June 1, 2019. There are at least five new regulations that are very different from the current regulations:
All handballs bear free kicks
All this time, we used to watch the referee let the game continue even though it hit the hand of a player on the pretext of the accident. With the new rules, whenever the ball hits the hand, whether intentionally or not, a free kick will still be given.
Next time, there will be no more goals created by accidental handball. There will be no more players taking advantage because they accidentally touch the ball with their hands.
There was no rebound from the penalty
Paul Pogba once scored from his own penalty kick rebound. In North London’s Derbi last week, Jan Vertonghen swept Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang’s penalty. Through the new rules, the game will not be continued if the penalty is pushed over by the goalkeeper or about the crossbar. There will be no chance of injury, exactly like the situation when there is a penalty.
Substitutes may leave the field anywhere
All this time, the replacement process must be carried out alongside the fourth official players at the edge of the field. These conditions make the substitution of players often misused to stall time. Through the new rules, the situation will not occur again because the substituted player may leave the field anywhere. The referee will be asked to instruct the player to exit through the nearest edge of the field.
There should be no interference at the posse
Recently Alexandre Lacazette scored against Bournemouth through a free kick after several Arsenal players interrupted the posse compiled by Bournemouth players. The new IFAB rules will not permit this kind of action. The opposing players must stay away from the posse at least one meter away.
The coach will also get a card
All this time, warnings or expulsion towards the coach has been carried out by the referee verbally. Through the new rules, all warnings for the referee will be delivered through a card as what the players usually got. Several coaches like Nuno Espirito Santo and Jurgen Klopp have the potential to be punished in the future.
Besides some of the rules above, there are still other minor changes, including:
The goal kickball is not required to leave the penalty box which means the central defenders can receive feedback from the keeper inside the penalty box.
In any situation when the ball hits the referee, a “drop ball” mechanism will be taken.
How is a football match going to be like? Let’s wait for the next season…
